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The
exact beginning of New Year celebration in China is unclear, it was
said to start from the year end religious ceremony in ShangDynasty(1766 BC – 112 BC) other said from as early as Emperor Yaoand Shun (~2300 BC). According to tales and legends, the beginning of
Chinese New Years started with the fight against a mythical beast
called “Year”. The “Year” looks like ox with lion head and it
stays in the sea. At the night of New Year's Eve , the “Year”
will come out to harm people, animals and properties. Later people
found that the “Year” is afraid of red color, fire and loud
sound. Therefore , for self protection, people form the habit of
posting red Dui Lian in front of the house , launching fireworks and
handling lantern at year end.
And
in different part of China has very different traditions. The
following are the most typical traditions.
NewYear's Eve Dinner
The
New Year's Eve dinner is the most important dinner for Chinese.
Normally this is the family reunion dinner, especially for those with
family member away from home. In the New Year's Eve dinner, normally
fish will be served. Dumplings are the most important disk in
northern china. These two dishes mean prosperous. Other disks are
depending on personal preference. The majority of Chinese will have
New Year's Eve dinner at home instead of restaurant.
Fireworks
Fireworks
are used to drive away the evil in China. Right after the 12:00PM of
the New Year's Eve, fireworks will be launched to celebrate the
coming of the New Year as well as driven away the evil. It is
believed that the person who launched the first Fireworks in the New
Year will get good luck.
ShouSui
Shou
Sui means after the New Year's Eve dinner, family member will
normally stay awake during the night. Some people just stay until the
mid night, after the fireworks. According to tales and legends, there
was a mythical beast called the "Year". At the night of New
Year's Eve, the "Year" will come out to harm people,
animals, and proprieties. Later people found that the "Year"
is afraid of red color, fire, and loud sound. Therefore, at the New
Year's Eve night, people will launch fireworks, put on some fires,
and stay awakes the whole night to fend of the "Year".
RedPackets
Red
packet is a red envelope with money in it, range from one to a few
thousand Chinese Yuan. Usually the red racket is given by adults,
especially married couple, and elderly to young children in the New
Year days. It was believed that the money in the red packet will
suppress the evil from the children, keep the children healthy, and
long living.
NewYear Markets
At
the New Years days, a temporarily market will be setup mainly selling
New Year goods, such as clothing, fireworks, decoration, foods, small
arts, etc. The market is usually decorated with a large amount of
lanterns.
SmallYear
Small
year is the 23th or 24th of the last month of the year. It is said
that this is the day the food god will leave the family to go to the
heaven to report the activity of family to the Emperor of the heaven.
People will have some religious ceremony to farewell the food god,
including take down and burn the paint of the food god. After the New
Year's Day, people will buy a new paint of the food god and post it
at the kitchen.
Cleaning
A
few days before the Chinese New Year, people will do a complete
cleaning of the house and house ware; means get rid of the old and
welcome the new. In old days when bath is not often, people will
normally take a throughout bath to welcome the New Year.
Decoration
After
the cleaning, people will decorate the house to welcome the New Year.
Most of the decorations are red in color. The most popular New Year
decorations are upside down fu, dui lian, lantern, year paint,
papercutting, door god, etc..
Source:
chinesenewyears.info
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